What is the difference between Fitness Training and Sport Conditioning?
Traditional fitness programs are generally designed to meet two broadly defined objectives: achieving basic fitness goals (weight loss, cardiovascular fitness, and basic increases in strength) and simply helping people look better. There is little to no focus on the functionality of muscles or on training the muscles to work together in performing realistic tasks. Sport training, however, goes beyond focusing on the aesthetics of honing a well-defined six-pack. A properly designed sports training program prepares the body for the specific demands placed upon it by the participation in sport. Simply put, sport training uses exercises that train the muscles in the same way they are used in sport.
For example, most fitness facilities have a variety of weight training machines which isolate specific muscles and train them in a single plane of movement, many times from a seated position. This bears little relationship to how the body performs in either real life or most certainly a sporting situation.
Sport training incorporates exercises that utilize all of the major muscle groups with realistic compound movements. A sports training program develops the secondary components of fitness including balance, agility, coordination, power, speed, and reaction; areas usually neglected by traditional programs. The improvement of these components translates into better athletic performance allowing the athlete to for example: run faster, jump higher, throw farther, or hit harder.
Sports based training can benefit athletes of all ages and levels of ability. From the weekend warriors to youth athletes to casual participants, sports based training will allow them the opportunity to reach their full athletic potential.
Doesn’t my son get better playing soccer by simply playing more soccer? How does general sports training help him improve his game?
General sports training focuses on developing a solid foundation of athletic skills. Success in speed and power sports requires skills and performance in many different areas: sprinting, striking, jumping and lateral movement to name a few. Most of these foundational skills are common components across most sports, whether it be soccer, baseball, basketball or tennis.
Attempting to build highly sport specific skills before ensuring a solid base of overall athleticism can limit their future potential improvement at best, and at worst can lead to burnout and injury.
The family workout looks really fun…but how can you challenge my husband, my 10 year old son and me when we are at such different levels??
Designing a program to challenge a variety of levels may seem daunting, which may be why it is the norm in most families to leave the kids at home while mom and dad go to the gym. However, working out as a family can bring you and your children closer together, be motivating and rewarding, and most importantly be great fun! In fact in a recent survey by Prevention magazine, a full 76% of children queried said they would like to work out with their parents!
Traditional machine-based workouts are indeed difficult to tailor for youth which may be where much of the programming confusion lies. Typical machines used at fitness centers are designed for an adult, making the proper positioning and alignment for children problematic. SPEED programs, however, are based on movement and functional exercises that do not require machines and can be easily and safely adapted for any age or level of ability.
SPEED family workouts get everybody moving. We use a variety of sports drills, agility ladder training, sprinting drills and our state of the art sports wall to get your heart pumping for great aerobic training. A little friendly family competition always adds to the excitement and motivates everyone to push a little harder!
For the strength component of the workout, SPEED coaches use an assortment of functional training tools such as medicine balls, sta-balls, kettlebells and bodyweight in a circuit style program. While your husband may be challenged by overhead throws with a 10kg medicine ball, the very same exercise can be as beneficial for your son using a 2 kg medicine ball and for you using a 6kg medicine ball.
Each workout is tailored to the interests and abilities of each family member and includes progressive aerobic conditioning, muscular strength and flexibility. Most of all, SPEED family workouts are designed to put the fun in fitness and foster a lifelong love of fitness for family members of all ages!
The indoor tracks are great for improving acceleration. But don’t athletes need to run long distances?
An image comes to mind of a coach standing in the middle of the track with a whistle as his athletes run lap after lap around the oval. In the past, training long distances was indeed the standard form of conditioning regardless of whether the sport was an endurance sport or speed and power sport.
It is now known that the methods of training for endurance sports and those for training for speed and power sports (team sports) are different. Most team sports are intermittent, meaning there are a several series of stops and starts within the game, unlike endurance events where the athlete maintains a pace for the entire duration of the event.
Employing endurance training techniques for athletes participating in intermittent sports has been shown to actually diminish their capacity for speed and power. In simple scientific terms, an athlete’s muscles are made up of two types of fibers: fast twitch and slow twitch. Fast twitch fibers make us fast and powerful, where slow twitch are designed for long sustainable activities such as long distance running. Current studies show that fast twitch fibers can take on the characteristics of slow twitch fibers with prolonged endurance training thereby diminishing their capacity for generating power. This is an undesirable training outcome for athletes participating in team sports.
My son thinks the sport wall is “cool”…I’m happy he is having fun, but how is this helping him?
The sport wall uses “fun” technology to improve speed and agility in athletes of all ages and skill levels. Training on the sports wall enables an athlete to combine both the mental and physical aspects of sport.
Consistent use of the sportwall will improve reaction time and train the mind to function quickly. Practically speaking, the quicker the mind functions, the slower the game will appear. So if the athlete is able to process information more quickly he is allowed more time to react and apply strategy to his performance.
More specifically, the programs available on the sportwall focus on developing:
• Fast reflexes
• Balance, agility, body awareness and footwork
• Improved vision
• Anaerobic and aerobic endurance
• Concentration, attention, focus, and direction
• Visual-perceptual motor skills
• Rapid strategy processing
I’m not particularly athletic; I just like to play tennis. Your facilities and trainers are a bit daunting for someone who just wants to stay in reasonable shape.
Whether you are in competition, a weekend warrior, or just want to bring out your personal best, SPEED Institute can help. Our sport core and general conditioning classes are a great way to start athletic training and get into great physical shape.
The general sport training classes offered at SPEED are designed to address the basic demands of sport. The program includes multi-joint exercises for functional strength, stability work as well as core training. In addition to improving performance through the strengthening of the musculature involved in sport, sport training can greatly reduce the risk of injury. Many casual participants of sports are at greater risk of injury during participation in sport as they have not properly trained the muscles required for performing and supporting the movements required by their sport.
With 8000 square feet of open space and our indoor sprinting tracks to perform drills, sprints and shuttle runs , treadmills will be the last thing on your mind!!
It is a common myth of fitness that long slow “cardio” training is essential to conditioning athletes. Although aerobic fitness in team competitive sports is important, anaerobic fitness is the key variable in increasing an athlete’s performance.
In team sports, an athlete must have the ability to accelerate or sprint maximally, jump, decelerate, change directions and then recover during rest periods to repeat the movements all over again. Sports scientists have termed this activity “high-intensity intermittent exercise” which is trained anaerobically.
Anaerobic training (interval training) involves bouts of high intensity training of 10-90 seconds in duration followed by a recovery period. Successful anaerobic training yields improvement in both anaerobic as well as aerobic fitness. This, in turn increases an athlete’s speed, performance, and endurance as well as his/her ability to recover during rest periods. Anaerobic training is the focus of SPEED conditioning programs and does not require a treadmill!
For the general fitness enthusiast or for those just wanting to shed a few pounds, the benefits of interval training are many:
1)More total fat and calories are burned during short high intensity exercise than with continuous exercise
2)Interval training increases the “afterburn” of exercise or the number of calories burned long after exercise has been completed and
3)Interval training improves both anaerobic and aerobic capacity, continuous training improves only aerobic.
Continuous training, however, should not be eliminated entirely from your weekly workouts as it is an effective component of a total weightloss regimen. It is recommended that both interval training and continuous training sessions be included as part of your fitness program.
My child is sick. Do I need to pay for a class he cannot attend?
Classes purchased in blocks of 5 or 10 may be completed within a 6 or 12 week period respectively, giving you plenty of time to make up for the session lost.
Cancellation of individual training sessions does require 24 hours advance notice. SPEED Institute has a waiting list for many of our coaches, so we need sufficient time to offer the time slot to another athlete.
